Primary Sources

What is a Primary vs Secondary Source?

A great explanation of primary and secondary sources is available on this site.

Viewing & Saving Primary Sources from American Memory

The LOC American Memory collection is an excellent source for Primary Sources and directions for viewing and saving them is available here.

Our Documents

"a list of 100 milestone documents, compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration"...that "chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965."

Primary Source Topics:

• General Resources

• Civil Rights

• Civil War

• Colonial America/American Revolution

• The Great Depression

• Immigration

• World War I

• World War II

• Teacher Resources

General Resources

• American Folklife Center
• American Memory Collection
• American Memory Maps Collection (1500--1999)
• American Photography: A Century of Images
• American Presidency Project
• American Rhetoric
• Ad Access Database (advertisements)
• Authentic History Center
• Awesome Stories
• Bancroft Library Collections
• Calisphere: World of Primary Sources and More (U. California)
• Census Statistics
• Child Labor in America
• Documents for the Study of American History
• Emergence of Advertising in America (1850 - 1920)
• EyeWitness: History through the Eyes
• FBI: The Vault
• Footnote.com: The Place for Historical Documents Online
• Founders' Constitution
• Historical Atlas of the 20th Century
• History and Politics Out Loud
• HyperHistory Online
• Landmark Supreme Court Cases
• Library and Archival Indexes on the Web
• NARA 100 Milestone Documents
• National Archives and Records Search
• National Jukebox
• National Security Archive
• NYPL Digital Gallery
• 100 Terrific Sites to Find Primary Source Documents
• Primary Documents in American History
• Popular Songs of American History
• Project Gutenberg: Listing by Author
• Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 (Library of Congress)
• Source Documents in US History
• World Digital Library
• WWW Virtual Library History and Images Index

Return to top

Civil Rights

• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
• Digital Library on American Slavery
• John F. Kennedy Digital Library

Return to top

Civil War Resources

• Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project LincolnNet
• America's First Look at the Camera (1839-1864)
• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
• Civil War
• Civil War Newspapers Harper's Weekly
• Civil War Primary Documents
• Digital Library on American Slavery
• Documenting the American South
• Primary Documents in American History
• Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 (Library of Congress)
• Source Documents from the Civil War Period
• Source Documents from Reconstruction Period
• Speeches of Abraham Lincoln
• TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus - Civil War

Return to top

Colonial American/American Revolution

• AP US History: Docs (American Revolution)
• Archiving Early America
• Charters of Freedom
• Coming of the American Revolution
• Founders' Constitution
• John Adams' Library
• Primary Documents in American History
• Source Documents in US History: Colonies
• Source Documents in US History: Revolutionary War

Return to top

The Great Depression

• America From the Great Depression to WWII (Library of Congress)
• America in the 1930's
• American Memory Collection
• Source Documents from the Great Depression

Return to top

Immigration Resources

• American Memory Collection
• Calisphere: Immigration Primary Sources
• Chinese in California
• Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search
• Ellis Island Database Search
• Footnote.com: The Place for Historical Documents Online
• Italian Americans in California
• Library and Archival Indexes - Immigration Search
• NYPL Digital Gallery: Immigration Search
• The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island: Ellis Island

Return to top

World War I

• World War I Document Archive
• World War I Images

Return to top

World War II

• After the Day of Infamy: 'Man-on-the-Street' Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Avalon Project: World War II Documents
• Historic Government Documents from WWII
• Holocaust Photos
• Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive
• Powers of Persuasion: Poster Art of World War II
• Private Art (letters to and from the homefront--WWII)
• Rutgers Oral History Archive of World War II
• World War II in Color
• World War II Military Situation Maps (Library of Congress)

Return to top

Teacher Resources

• American Memory Timeline for Teachers
• Artifact and Analysis (Smithsonian)
• Digital Classroom
• Digital History
• Eduscapes Primary Sources and Real World Data
• For Teachers (Library of Congress)
• NARA Primary Sources, Activities, and Training for Educators and Students
• National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom
• National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library
• Our Documents (primary sources and teaching resources)

Return to top